War

“In war, truth is the first casualty.” ~Aeschylus

No such thing as a good war or a just war or a great war. War is not romantic, cool, bad-ass, interesting, or worthy of re-enacting. War re-enactors are pathetic, historical jock sniffers. All war throughout history has been nothing more than a pissing match between government psychopaths attempting to gain control, power, and wealth regardless how many innocent people had to be sacrificed, period. War is old men sending young men off to die, period. Young men are trained to be killers and paid to do so: they are professional killers by definition. Anybody telling you anything different is full of shit up to their ears and trying to hide their agenda.

Premeditatively killing someone is murder regardless why you do it. Every soldier who ever attacked and killed someone because the government ordered them to is a murderer. That’s what murder is regardless of government doublespeak.

Your grandfather in WWII, your uncle in Korea, your dad in Vietnam, your cousin in Iraq, and your brother in Syria. The Japanese pilots who bombed Pearl Harbor and the men aboard the planes that dropped the atomic bombs on Japan. The drone pilots dropping bombs in Pakistan and Yemen from half way around the world and the clandestine CIA assassins. The list goes on. All murderers by definition—not by opinion. Killing people on behalf of the military doesn't absolve you of your crimes, doesn't justify your actions, doesn't cleanse your soul of its guilt regardless what the military will tell you. You are not a hero, you weren’t brave, you weren’t willing to write a check up to and including your life for your country. You are a murderer—and you will be a murderer for the rest of your life. Live with that shit.

Guilty of the most heinous crime any human being can perpetrate on another, killing innocent men, women, and children. People they didn't even know and who couldn't have possibly posed a threat to them or anybody else. The soldiers who actually believe the brainwashing and religious patriotic rhetoric, the true believers, they’re the lucky ones. They don't feel the guilt and shame that any sane human being would feel. It's the ones that realize what they've done that suffer. The shame and guilt they feel after they’ve freed their minds of the illusion of patriotism, nationalism, and government authority. After they’ve seen through the lies of the military brainwashing and wake up one morning back in reality and realize they can never un-see what they’ve seen and they can never undo what they’ve done and they’ll never get their legs back.

On average, 21 veterans commit suicide every day, twice the national average. I “wonder” why? They try to cope with their conscience and memories and physical handicaps by drinking, using drugs, fucking anything that moves, anything to numb the pain, fill the hole in their soul, and try to forget. They try to escape to an alternative reality where they are whole and aren’t murderers anymore, where they can’t hear the screams or see the faces of the people they killed. A place where the bomb that hit their Humvee never exploded. Easier said than done. What happened, where did it all go so wrong? Where’s that bright eyed, bushy-tailed high school kid who played on the baseball team, hung out in the McDonald’s parking lot on Friday nights, and took his sweetheart to senior prom? What happened to their college plans and aspirations for the future? How did he end up homeless under a bridge, unable to walk, unable to sleep, and thinking of nothing but how to get his next fix? It all seems so far away now, like it was all just a dream and never really happened. It all seemed to start when that marine gunnery sergeant came to visit his class on senior career day. That’s the last time he remembers feeling normal. After that it’s all a blur.

It’s embarrassing to see the veterans on Sunday morning at the IHOP all decked out in their USS Eisenhower ball cap adorned from front to back with pins representing some sort of military recognition. Their pathetic yellow windbreakers with patches all over it commemorating their “service.” As if this is their defining accomplishment in life, their pride and joy, their “military service.” Who did they serve? How does war serve anyone—especially when your government starts it? I don’t think “service” means what they think it means. And what is there to be proud of? You were conscripted, forced to go or else, and you went to kill people because you were more afraid of what your own government would do to you if you refused than you were of possibly being killed on the battlefield. At least on the battlefield you stood a chance. Sound familiar? Rinse and repeat.

It’s not normal for one human being to kill another, it goes against the essence of our humanity and our conscience. Combat veterans are responsible for almost 21 percent of domestic violence nationwide, and veterans alone account for 20 percent of all U.S. suicides. Rinse and repeat in the blood of “patriots” and kids who aren’t old enough to drink a beer legally but are given deadly weapons and told to go kill without question, prejudice, or compassion. Not surprising that so many veterans become “law enforcement,” is it?